Falling Snow
by Echofall
Summary: Whitekit knows in his heart that he's different from everyone else... but how? As he finds out his true self in the heart of IceClan, Whitekit will uncover secrets, make new friends, and use his abilities to fulfill the prophecy.
1. Whitekit

Darkness. That's the first thing I remember. It was dark, and I was scared, and it was loud, yet silent at the same time. I felt a rush of chills. And I didn't know where I was,

what I was, who I was. I heard very very small, quiet... cooing. Soft voices. The world around me was black. I couldn't see. I couldn't smell. I couldn't hear. The only thing that

I could do. Was feel. I felt warm when I wriggled one way, then cold when I wriggled to the other. I tasted nice, rich, warm, stuff. I felt very sleepy. I curled up by the warm

something and fell asleep.

A few days passed, I could see, hear, smell. I looked up at a black cat. She looked back down at me. Did I know her? There were two cats. One black. One brownish. They

looked at me disapprovingly. "That's unnatural!" One of the cats said. I looked behind me. There wasn't any other cat or prey or berry or bush or anything. Were they talking

about me? "What is?" I asked. "Your pelt. It's white." The brown cat replied. I think he was my father. "So?" I asked. "No kin of yours has had a white pelt. How did you get that

color?" The black cat said. I shrugged. "Does this mean I'm different, from all the other kits?" I asked. "Oh no, dear. You are just like the other kits. But all kits are very unique."

a pale orange tabby she cat said, padding up to us. "Oh. Well, okay." I replied. But deep inside I knew. I knew that I was much different from the other kits. I could feel things

in the ground, hear things in the wind. I felt VERY different. And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to feel. I didn't know how to say what I felt. I was just... confused.

Hello. My name is Whitekit. And I. Am very, very different.


	2. Dreams

I was just a small kit when I realized I could do things other cats couldn't. I had no idea what I was capable of. I was scared at my power. I knew I had one. I just didn't know what it was, or when to use it. I padded out of the nursery on a warm, sunny day during leaf-fall. I met one of my apprentice friends, Blackpaw, and we started talking about things that we thought were strange. Me, for instance, thought my pelt was odd because none of my kin had white pelts. My friend Blackpaw thought it was weird that our Clan wasn't resting, just hunting, border patrolling, arguing with ShadeClan about a few apprentices chasing squirrels up trees in OUR TERRITORY. I didn't even know about that. "I just don't understand this mess!" Dustwhisker, an elder, exclaimed. "ShadeClan, out of all the Clans, would have by far the most prey. Why do they need to steal ours?" He rambled on, padding towards the fresh-kill pile. I bounded over to join him. "I don't know. But the Clans seem to be doing well." I told him, fishing out a mouse from the pile. "But in the season of leaf-bare the Clans need to fight to survive. Even if it is just a squirrel." Dustwhisker nodded to me. He looked at my small, round paws. "You're too young to fight." He told me. I gobbled down my mouse and padded back into the nursery, and lay down. I thought about squirrels. I wondered, _If StarClan is watching over us, and care about us, wouldn't they stop fighting, and send an infinite amount of prey?_ I started to doze off. I dreamt about a huge, white warrior. He was standing upon a towering rock, commanding prey to flood into his strong camp. He had a torn ear, and a scar above his shoulder. He looked tough. He looked powerful. Like someone out of a nursery tale. He was a warrior. He was a leader. And in a way, he looked a little bit…. like me.


	3. 5 Moons Later

My mother woke me early that day. She nudged me awake. "Whitekit, it's almost time for your apprentice ceremony. Eat and get cleaned up." She told me. "Really?" I bounced. "Yes. Your sister and you." "Where has Maplekit been, anyway?" I asked. "She was born with a sickness, but she had it cured." She responded lightly. I padded outside. Chilly, but the sun beamed down on me, so it tricked me into being warm. I strolled over to the fresh-kill pile. I saw a small bird, and nabbed it. I chewed on the warm flesh. _It must have been freshly caught_, I thought. I washed my paws, and padded over to the highledge. _In a little while, I'll be known as Whitepaw. Well. Maybe. Unless my name is changed to Differentkit. _"Snowstorm, take Seedpaw, Leafstripe, and Rosetail on the dawn patrol." Darkcloud shouted the order. "Brambleberry, take Brushpaw and Rippleclaw on hunting patrol." She told him. Frozenstar padded out of his den and lept onto highledge. "But first," He began, "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here at the base of the highledge for a Clan meeting!" Cats poked their heads out of their dens, apprentices, warriors, elders. "We have gathered here today on the mark of Waterpelt's kits, Maplekit and Whitekit's 6th moon, therefore they shall be named apprentices. Maplekit. Please step up." Frozenstar said. Maplekit padded up very proudly. "Maplekit, will you, as a medicine cat, help any cat from any Clan if they need it, and to live by the medicine cat code, even at the cost of your life?" Frozenstar asked. "I do." Maplekit replied. "Then from now until you have earned your full medicine cat name shall be known as Maplepaw. May the spirits of our ancestors guide your path." Frozenstar said. Frozenstar placed his head on Maplepaw's head. Maplepaw licked his shoulder in return. "Mistyclaw. You will mentor Maplepaw to teach her the ways of a medicine cat." Mistyclaw padded up to touch noses with Maplepaw. "Whitekit, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and fight to protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" I stood there for a moment, thinking very deeply about the question. "I do." I replied. "Then from this point forward, until you have earned your warrior name, shall be known as Whitepaw. May StarClan guide your path." Frozenstar said. I licked his shoulder. "Nightstorm. You will mentor Whitepaw. You are an excellent warrior, and you first apprentice should be a new challenge. I hope you pass on your skills to this young cat." Frozenstar told him. I padded up to Nightstorm and touched noses. His nose was really warm. I felt safe around him. "Hunting and border patrols! You can leave now." Darkcloud commanded. Snowstorm, Seedpaw, Leafstripe, Rosetail, Brambleberry, Brushpaw and Rippleclaw all charged out of camp. A huge dust cloud loomed around the camp entrance. I squinted to see that a cat was sitting outside the camp entrance. I slowly padded up to find it was actually Nightstorm. "Ready to train?" He asked. "Oh. Uh, ok?" I replied. We padded out of camp and into the forest. It was very nice in the forest, sunny, warm, and green. I had only been to the training grounds a few moons ago, when I got a tour of the territory. I don't think Blackpaw was supposed to show me around until I was an apprentice. But oh well. We were training hunting, and I was pretty confident. We were padding around the territory, looking for prey very quietly. He stopped me. "Wait. Do you smell anything?" He asked. I sniffed the air very intense. "Hmm…. I smell something," I said, "But I'm not sure what it is." I finished. "Well lets see, There's a mouse, vole, rat, stranger from another clan, canary, robin, bluebird, chaffle, squirrel, chipmunk, frog, snake, and other rodents or reptiles. What do you think?" He asked me. "Umm, Robin?" I asked. "Try again." He told me. "Squirrel?" I tried again, sniffing. "Yes!" He bounced. "Now watch how it's done." He said. He spotted the squirrel, and dropped into a hunters crouch. I got so excited. Nightstorm was the best fighter AND hunter in the Clan, him and his brother. He silently crept up on the squirrel, and pounced. He killed the squirrel with a quick nip to the neck. "Wow!" I exclaimed. "Now, do you think you could catch prey like that?" He asked me. "Maybe. If you train me." I replied. He mrowed with laughter. "That's what I intend to do." He told me. "Come." He said. I followed him to the training grounds. He set the squirrel down. "Show me your hunters crouch." He told me. "Ok." I replied. I squatted down and crept forward quietly. At least I thought I did. "Ok, Pros, You know what a hunters crouch it, Cons, you're noisy, unsteady, and you can't identify the scents of prey. That's what we need to work on." He told me. I sat down. "Ok." I said. He showed me his hunters crouch. "Ok, so what you need to do, is crouch down so your belly fur is hovering above the ground. Balance on all four paws, but when you step forward, Balance on your backpaws, and when you step with your back feet, balance on your front feet. That way you don't stumble over and scare the prey away." He told me. "You try." He said. "Ok, but don't laugh if I mess up." I told him. "I won't." He promised. I squatted down and balanced on all fours, with my belly fur hovering, just like he told me. He laughed. "You promised!" I exclaimed. "I'm laughing because you did it just fine." He told me. "Whatever. let's just try again." I muttered, still unhappy he laughed at me. "Okay. Hmm." He looked around. "There. Practice your hunting skills on this." He set a small oak leaf on a large, sun warmed rock. "Now imagine this is a mouse. A cute little mouse. He's sitting there, minding his own business, probably eating some sort of berry. What do you do?" He asked, giving me a challenging look. "Well. I want to feed my Clan, so I drop into my hunters crouch," I began, balancing on all fours and hovering my belly fur, "And then I pounce!" I exclaimed, blowing myself at it. "No!" He shouted. He dove in front of me as I trying to "kill" the "mouse". "What are you doing? I could have killed you!" I yelled. "You're crazy." He told me. I probably wouldn't have killed him… "You don't just pounce, you have too-" He was cut off by a large banging noise. He looked up, eyes wide with fright. "Get back to the camp." He commanded. "Now."


End file.
